A Comment on “one-and-done”…

So I saw this comment at the end of an article I was reading and felt the need to reply ( I expanded my reply a little):

“Some of us still believe that it is a great privilege to attend an exceptionally good university and to obtain an education which will hopefully help equip us for meeting life’s challenges, as well as provide us a fund of knowledge assisting us in our life’s work. For us the “one and done” is an obscenity, making the university a “farm team” for the “big leagues,” sort of the Durham Bulls of the Tampa Rays. Sorry, life is a whole lot more than basketball, an enjoyable sport that most of us like, but there should be many years after the basketball playing days are over and one needs wisdom, understanding, and a considerable amount of knowledge acquired by study.This Duke grad laments that most of our basketball players are now leaving, using the university as only an opportunity to sharpen their game for a short period of time.”

My Reply:

What you choose to ignore is that regardless of their time at Duke these men are great representatives who chose to take the next step in their professional careers and increase the window of time that they can actually earn a living in the NBA – a wise choice generally. In some instances there is a need to enter the workforce sooner to help out a family that very well may need and depend on that potential earning. How can you fault a kid for that? A lot of them, a good amount of them actually come back for their degrees – I say, why focus on the short-term when the kids themselves are actually playing the long game. By all accounts if you look at the impact that former Duke players, including the “one and dones” are making on society as a whole, you should really be proud. The work that Luol Deng is doing all over the world with his foundation is just one example – there is an impact beyond sports. The shallow hatred that a lot of people harbor for the reality of the one and done is generally not based in fact or anything concrete.

The fact that these players return and give of themselves to K Academy and other endeavors aiding the university and it’s image is priceless and ignored by those solely infatuated with their short stay at Duke.

What we want to see from a university (in my opinion) beyond just a degree, is putting people into society and the workforce that are productive contributors who have a work ethic to further that society. The fact that they may get their degree late or not at all shouldn’t be the measure by which they are judged by you or anyone else.